Petron, F2 shoot for finals berths

Bitter rivals Petron and F2 Logistics seek to arrange a seventh straight title series clash when they tackle separate opponents Tuesday in the semifinals of the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference at Muntinlupa Sports Center.

The Blaze Spikers, queens here for the past two years, battle Cignal in the 7 p.m. game, just after the Cargo Movers face Foton at 4:15 p.m.

Both have twice-to-beat privileges to exhaust after finishing 1-2 in the eliminations.

There’s no doubt that Petron will come into the day the hotter of the two teams, closing out its classification round with 12 straight wins for 13-1 overall before sending Marinerang Pilipina packing in the quarterfinals.

Head coach Shaq Delos Santos liked what he saw, saying that they are peaking as the league enters its most crucial stages.

“I’m glad that our players are playing at a high level,” Delos Santos said. “But we have to be more eager, more aggressive and sustain the level of our game for us to achieve our goal.”

Cignal, though, is not in awe of Petron’s record. In fact, coach Edgar Barroga is confident of taking this match-up to the full route after extending the Blaze Spikers to five sets in their two elimination round losses to Petron.

Read more...